Vocal Tips For K pop Fans #3: Vocal Registers

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80 thoughts on “Vocal Tips For K pop Fans #3: Vocal Registers”

Are you familiar with Lorde? I know she’s a bad vocalist but I want to know her voice type? Is she an alto or a mezzo? Wikipedia says she’s a contralto but I doubt that since she sounds like mezzo in majority of her hits (Royals, Team, Tennis Court) and darker soprano in “No Better” yet her voice in “Yellow Flicker Beat” and “Glory and Gore” sounds so dark for mezzo.

Here’s the link of the songs I mentioned in case you haven’t heard those:

As expected. I’ve actually seen lots of vocal analyses blogs which claim Lorde is contralto when obviously she’s not. Well, her speaking voice is manly, though. LOL. Also, some claimed Taylor Swift is an alto. I find that funny. She’s obviously a soubrette soprano. Same with Britney Spears. =_=

Well, I used to enjoy Kesha’s music but after hearing her live vocals, I was turned off. =_= Some people say she had improved, though, but I don’t know since the last time I watch her live performance, it is lip-synced.

Her C#3’s, I heard. Maybe F3/F#3 is supported? It’s hard to tell for sure for some reason, maybe I’m tired. lol A4/Bb4 dont sound bad, she seems to have a lower voice but her style is so vocally unchallenging and more harmony-based that I cant tell

C3 ~ G3, none of that was properly supported. A4/Bb4 seem okay. C5 is not okay and above is not okay, the rest has tension and it’s pretty throaty. Apparently she has pretty bad pitch too live, I’ve heard her live and she seems weak to average vocally speaking.

Here is the video I’m talking about. You don’t have to watch the whole thing unless you want to watch bad dancing, rapping, being weird and me crying. Yes I cried in this video… I also sang and I forgot the lyrics so that was bad but I want you to watch these parts. 5:51-7:20 and 16:16-17:51. You can watch the whole thing if you want.

Oh btw nice video! The important message is sad but I think you need to know it. So I think I would start it sometime and try to finish in that week

WAIT PLEASE WATCH 8:02-16:13! Espically 13:07-16:13!!! I you watch before that like at 8:02 it would make more sense.I forgot how important that was because I want to announce that message at 14:42-16:10. People have to realize that! It makes me cry that I live in this generation and how most people and things are! It’s horrible! So how did I do on my singing? I know I failed that G3 LIKE CRAZY!!! So what do you think about the important message? Sorry throughout this video I didn’t talk well, I didn’t use the proper speech because it was so hard for me to talk about that. But I’m here to help and love people and that’s what I do and love. I’m probably going to a video on how to stop depression and eating disorders. I have a subscriber that has the same problem. I really want her to get bettter!

Airiness is a way to hear it, but also it’s how disconnected it sounds. So if it sounds like the singer’s voice, it’s most likely head voice, if it sounds like a generic voice, it’s falsetto. If you pay attention to male using falsetto, it will just sound like a voice, if you listen to males using head voice, the tone present in their chest voice and mixed voice will still be present in their head voice, like Onew’s head voice, occasionally Jonghyun’s head voice, Ryeowook’s head voice and Daesung’s head voice.

Oh I forgot to mention that head voices can produce resonance, while falsetto can’t. Anyway let me see.
Oh the answer? Let me see if I can get them all right haha 1. Head voice 2. Head voice that may have become falsetto in the last note 3. head voice 4. falsetto? 5. head voice 6. falsetto 7. falsetto 8. head voice (some people might call it falsetto because it’s produced by a man though) 9. falsetto 10. head voice 11. I think falsetto 12. falsetto
I’m not entirely sure haha because some of them just sound weird and nasal, like Celine.

Sometimes someone would hit a high note, without any of the vibrato and it sounds like sharp *not as in off tone but as in piercing* but I don’t really know if that’s a head voice because everytime I go to my head voice it’s always had the operatic vibrato in it. Like I don’t know how to do a head voice without the vibration. Is there a way?

I really don’t know why but I can sometimes produce high notes with vibrato. I’m sure it’s falsetto, though, because it’s more girlish than my usual singing voice, so I guess it’s an artificial vibrato. I don’t know how I do that, though. Can you explain this?

My friend said it might be a mixed voice since it sounds darker than my usual B4/C5, falsetto. I don’t know, though, but I really think it’s a falsetto with artificial vibrato since it sounds uncontrolled.

Thanks for that! I’ll work on it. I am mostly classified as a soprano, though I have my doubts.
Any tips on making the “wonderful” word there more stable/rich? Or I Just have to keep doing it until it’s better?

Im a girl actually. A soprano even. Just want to extend it down to the second octave if i can. My teacher, shes a soprano but she can extend it to until bass range. I’ve heard shes sung an E2 before. She said its not her natural voice but she learned and practiced until it extends to the 2nd octave. Shes very busy though so i dont meet her often 😦

Just curious, but when we speak, do we naturally switch registers as we change pitch, or are registers only really relevant when singing? Like if we say/exclaim something like woo hoo!, or wow!, or pretend to be a little girl or something, in a range somewhat higher than our speaking voice, do we naturally mix and change registers?

can falsetto and head voice not go till a same note? I mean I can hit Mariah’s whistle in ‘oh holy night’ (at last ‘oh night divine~’ part, what note is that btw? 😛 ) with falsetto but I can’t hit it with head voice 😀

https://soundcloud.com/user40640577/lower-register-3-f3-c3
Maybe a silly question, but is this chest voice? Sometimes I feel like I crackle using it even though it doesn’t have the same sound as full fry. I only just realized that I wasn’t really switching into whatever this is, and I just want to be sure.

It has to be mixed at some point, even if just a little bit. Even then, if you’re trying to bring too much chest, it will cause your voice to be strained since there’s a limit to how high you can pull your chest voice naturally.

Hey I found the weirdest thing I’ve ever heard in vocal terms. What is this? Literally what is this? Does this come from any register? All I know it creeps me out so much and I get nightmares from whatever the hell this singer is doing. I never knew that singing can be really creepy. I hope you don’t get nightmares

18:52-19:44 If you tell what that is then you are a genius. Ohh that is so creepy!

She’s creating a really rapid movement in her vocal cords by inhaling air and stretching them in a similar manner that someone would create a whistle register, but instead with more creak in it. It’s I guess some kind of stylistic technique, never heard people doing it in songs lol

Wow your a genius! I tried doing it but the only thing I can do is when she says “all alone” really creepy. Also that did not sound like when I was getting in my whistle register. I just sounded like a mouse on helium. I never heard it before either. This singer is very different, you thought that Lady Gaga is weird then look at Bjork! I saw her on this vocal blog and I looked her up and wow…

I always like your analysis blog. I always wondering what category this or that kpop singer *lol

Aaaah i see a comment above about Taylor Swift, so she’s weak to average? Yeah although i kinda like her music i know she’s not that good with technique and live performance and at time sounds off key/pitch.

Can i ask you something? How about Katy Perry? In my opinion, she’s average because she’s kinda off keys too and strain in some note and live performance. Am i right?

How about Lady Gaga? In my opinion, she’s above average to competent or competent. People said she’s underdevelope for falsetto or head voice and likes to use her real voice to reach really high notes that make it sound like sceam and strain. am i right? You can find some of the vocal range analysis in youtube.

Sorry if it’s not kpop thing. I’m kpop fans but i like taylor swift and lady gaga too. I hope you answer or explain this abit. Thank you ahmin 😀

Yeah categories here are our own criteria anyway and we value things differently depending on the judge of course. I feel like Taylor swift is at best average, at least weak yes, I’m not too familiar with her but she sings with a lot of throat and tongue tension, even in studio like her new song Bad Blood, the B4’s in the “Just like that” before the chorus come is, all tongue and tension. Katy Perry average the least, above average at best but I don’t think she’s that good. For Lady Gaga, she’s at least good yknow. She has a very solid lower range down to at least E3, good musicality, good pitch, good control of her voice, good resonance even as high as D5, she’s a mezzo so that’s quite an achievement. I heard her singing with a connected head voice as well.

WHAT!!! Really, Lady Gaga can be called “Good” singer? Cool!!! I know she’s a good singer that know her voice and has control of it, but i don’t know if she can get that categories *lol Thank you by the way hehehe XD

It just means that you can’t access it, you may be able to access it if you try hard to find your own but the whistle register isn’t as natural to a human as the modal register, so finding it can be difficult.

This may sound really dumb, but why do I get this feeling when i read vocal analyses (not only from this site, but some others too) that the mix register, are kinda’ the most important register out of the three. Like, even if you have a very well developed head voice that is constantly resonant or a very well developed chest register but with an average mix register, they would still be rated lower than some other singers that have a decent mix voice that can some carry resonance. Or other example are if a soprano (for example) can support and resonate her head voice constantly up to C6, and they can also support her mixed voice with good resonance till D5, her mixed voice is regarded as her best register. Is it because of the ‘size’ of the resonance? Or something to do with placement? I honestly don’t know. So can you explain a bit for me hehehehe. Thanks in advance~~~

I would say a soprano with C6 and D5 has a better head than her mix. I mean both Shannon and Ailee both have better head voices than mixed voices and I feel it’s because of the gente they sing so the mix is kind of highly regarded. In classical music head voice would be more important.

Well, thats kind of what I thought too, but in this analysis I read it was stated that her mixed voice takes on with a large resonance and good projection. While the explanation of the head voice starts with, “typically opting for head voice…” so maybe because its kinda under utilised or something, or maybe theres another issues. I mean, I’m not blaming the author of that analysis as he/she explain and analyse the vocalist pretty well, but i’m just curious with why i felt like mix register are the most important register after reading some vocal analyses (maybe because in the contemporary music its the most used register?? idk).

Hi there! I have some questions about register and other stuff…not sure if this is the right post to ask though lol

1. When you use the term “mix”, it can either mean the voice register “mixed voice”, or the technique to “mix” chest voice and head voice, right? Or are they the same thing??? I’m super confused.

2.I read a vocal analysis of a non-kpop male singer(who I believe is a tenor), the fans say this singer is very good at belting around A4, while at the same time he doesn’t use head voice very often. Is it even possible to have a good belt without using head voice?

3. I’ve done some researches on jpop vocal technique, they use the terms “jigoe” and “uragoe”, and I think Korean also use them (진성 and 가성). According to the studies I’ve read, they are different from chest voice and head voice(or falsetto). Have you heard of these terms and do you agree with that?